The Pull List: FANTASTIC FOUR, CEMETERY BEACH, HEAD LOPPER, and More

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Greetings, comic book lovers! It’s Wednesday, also known as “The Best Day of the Week,” because it’s New Comic Book Day. This week is loaded with awesome stuff, but don’t worry—we have a few recommendations to help you sort through the chaos. And for you big spenders out there, we also have a complete list of this week’s releases, so dig into all that comic book goodness. Science has proved that reading comic books makes you a better person. That’s right. Science.

As usual, we may touch on a plot detail or two below, which means you are officially entering spoiler territory. You’ve been warned, friends!

FANTASTIC FOUR #2

The second issue of the newly resurrected Fantastic Four is all kinds of wow. All the adventure, excitement, and humor are in here, plus an absolutely jaw-dropping last page. Dan Slott was born to write this book, which feels like a culmination of everything he’s done at Marvel and most certainly his best work to date. He gets what makes the Fantastic Four special and understands how to make them work. Sara Pichelli is always great, but whenever she gets to cut loose on some space stuff it feels especially awesome. Her aliens are the best and her weird technology is amazing. Two issues in and it’s pretty safe to say that Fantastic Four is working hard to earn its subtitle as “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”

CEMETERY BEACH #1

There is nothing quite as magical as a full-throttle Warren Ellis action comic. Cemetery Beach #1 vintage Ellis, gorgeously choreographed and illustrated by Jason Howard. You get a light intro here, a small conversation before you get to a character smiling and uttering the line “Murderous shit.” From there, it’s just blistering action peppered with bits of humor and explosions of extreme violence. Howard is in peak form here, delivering some of the most frantic and kinetic sequences we’ve seen in a very, very long time. Cemetery Beach is clearly just a buckle-up-and -hold-on kind of comic book and sometimes that’s all you need.

MECH CADET YU #12

Mech Cadet Yu is an absolutely stunning series. This final issue sticks the landing big time, with twists you won’t see coming and an ending that’ll leave you with tears in your eyes. Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa have created something truly special with this series, something that there simply isn’t enough of in comics. There is so much genuine heart beaming through this book, you can just feel it as you read. We’re sad that Mech Cadet Yu had to end, but this is such a beautifully constructed finale, it’s hard to feel anything other than joy. We’ll miss this wonderful little comic.

HEAD LOPPER Vol. 3 #1

This should be a National Holiday. Like, banks and schools should be closed today because Head Lopper is back. This is still our go-to fantasy comic series. It’s still the biggest, strangest adventure being published. Look, there’s not much that needs to be said other than you should be reading this series. It’s about a big dude who cuts monsters’ heads off. He’s known as The Head Lopper. He carries around the severed head of a witch who refuses to die and causes all sorts of trouble. It’s just full-blown awesomeness.

HOUSE OF WHISPERS #1

The extended Sandman Universe has become shockingly good. Were we concerned a little when they announced these books? Honestly, yes. Sandman feels like sacred territory and there was a part of us that felt as though it shouldn’t be trodden upon. Sure, Gaiman has returned to the well here and there, and The Endless have made an appearance in the DC Universe proper, but in general, the original comics’ reputation has remained intact and it has stood on its own. The idea of a whole series of books expanding and poking around in that world (or worlds, rather) was scary. Turns out there was nothing to worry about, because these comics are fantastic. Weird, dark, mysterious, and whimsical, House of Whispers is everything we love about Sandman but also wholly its own tale. Nalo Hopkins, Domo Stanton, and John Rauch nail it, big time, and not only match the work that came before but they manage to elevate it. This is great stuff and totally worth checking out.

That’s it for us this week! Let us know what comics you are picking up in the comments below!